How
do you know if you have met someone? I know that’s a funny question, and I am
not talking about whether or not you can remember meeting someone. Think back
to a time when you encountered someone new. What was the threshold of actually
meeting that person? Do both people have to acknowledge one another? Could only
one of them say hello? Does that count?
Meeting
someone gets slightly more complicated when people discuss brushes with
celebrities. I find it odd that we gush so much over popular figures, but when
encountering famous people quite often lowly devotees want nothing more than to
say, “I met ‘so and so’ this one time in an airport.” Like any big fish story often
these tales morph from just walking past one another in the terminal to having
drinks together in the frequent flyers lounge. Usually these meetings though leave
something to be desired. Not always though.
You
probably heard this week of the death of Roger Moore who played James Bond
among other roles on the silver screen. Perhaps what you did not hear was a
story from a man named Marc Haynes. When Haynes was seven and traveling with
his grandfather the two saw Moore in an airport in Nice, France. Haynes had
just seen James Bond and begged his grandfather to help him get the star’s
autograph. After a brief encounter including getting the actor’s signature the
boy and his grandfather walked away, only something was not right.
The
autograph read “Roger Moore” and not James Bond. Haynes told his granddad that
he had signed it wrong and felt crestfallen. The sweet grandfather walked back
over to Moore and told the movie star he had signed his name incorrectly—not
even knowing who James Bond was in the first place. Just then, Moore called
over the little boy. Looking around Moore raised an eyebrow and spoke in a very
hushed tone, “I have to sign my name as ‘Roger Moore’ because otherwise… [my
nemesis] Blofeld might find out I was here.”[1]
Then, the movie star made the boy promise to keep his identity safe. Moore’s
behavior was remarkable, funny, and brilliant—more than living up to his
reputation!
Years
later Haynes worked on a UNICEF advertisement that featured Roger Moore. During
one of the breaks Haynes told Moore of the story from his childhood. Moore
appeared amused and charmed by the story, but claimed that he did not remember
the encounter. Then, something profound happened.
As
the filming was wrapping up, Moore went to leave, but intentionally passed
Haynes in the hallway. As he did he paused ever so briefly, and in a hushed
tone he raised his eyebrow to say, “Of course I remember our meeting in Nice.
But I didn’t say anything in there, because those cameramen—any one of them
could be working for [my nemesis] Blofeld.”[2]
WOW!
Encounters
do happen that far outpace anything we could ask for or imagine. This was the
case with Marc Haynes when he met Roger Moore, but what about us? When have we
met someone that blew us away? Are there moments when you not only met someone,
but would say after only a brief encounter you know them? What about God? Have
you met God? Do you know God?
In
today’s Good News from John we heard a line that has been reverberating within
my soul all week long. Jesus, in the midst of a prayer to God the Father,
spoke, “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” What a remarkable statement: Eternal life is
knowing God. Knowing of God is
important. Knowing about God seems
crucial. However, KNOWING God is eternal life. It does not lead to it, knowing
God is in and of itself eternal life!
We
may be amazed at the kindness of a movie star to stop and play along with a seven-year-old
and later a young man, but what about God? Have you ever had a moment when you
felt the profound, mysterious presence of something beyond you come down not
only to meet you, but also to know you? We articulate that God came down in the
person of Jesus, He was the Christ, the Messiah, and God incarnate. At that
time, parts of humanity got to meet him. What about us?
Thursday
was our celebration of the Ascension when we remember that Jesus not only came
down, but also that he was carried away being lifted into heaven. Our opening
prayer, also known as the collect, for today reminds us that we are liturgically
speaking in a precarious position. Jesus has been lifted up with great triumph
into God’s Kingdom, and we beseech God, “Do not leave us comfortless, but send
us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our
Savior Christ has gone before.” How do we know God in this time between the
Ascension and when the Spirit descends at Pentecost? How do we know God now?
No
single answer exists. We know God in a multitude of ways: in creation, in
exploring it; in community, in sharing it; in intimacy, in moments of love with
friends, family, spouses and partners; in fellowship, in the breaking of the
bread and the sharing of the cup; in hearing the Word of God, in letting it
inspire the Good News to live within us; in reaching out, in sharing God’s love
in word and deed with those around us; and there are still countless other
ways. Chiefly we know God through the life of the one who walked before us and
walks with us on the path of eternal life, which will lead us even through
death. Still, that is not all.
There
will be moments in life when despite the all-encompassing presence of God we
believe that we are lost or alone. In moments when we feel like we do not know
God or maybe we may feel like we have not truly met God—even in these
moments—God knows us. In ways far surpassing a simple meet-and-greet, God knows
us. God knows every hair on our head. God knows us. God has known us even
before we were born (when we were still in the womb). God knows us. God knows each
and every one of us. And what is more, God loves each and every one of us.
How
will you get to know God? Be known. Get to know God. Experience eternal life.
[1] Marc
Haynes, “Roger Moore Story,” https://twitter.com/marchaynes,
shared May 23, 2017 accessed May 27, 2017.
[2] Ibid.
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